


In Red Currant Rum

by SimplyTsundere



Series: Mind If I.....Slyther-In? [6]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Date Night, Drunken Shenanigans, Feelings, Hogwarts Sixth Year, M/M, Marco Is A Lightweight, Slytherin Marco, gryffindor jean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-18 21:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9403796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyTsundere/pseuds/SimplyTsundere
Summary: Marco has a breakdown over his impending date, Jean gets to see a whole new side of Marco, and someone can't hold their liquor. (Spoiler Alert - It's totally Marco)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Well, welcome back to the series! I hope you all will enjoy the date portion of this and have a laugh along the way. We get a few glimpses into the boys' personal lives as well as some other information about them. 
> 
> ~Cheers,  
> ❤♠Neko❤♠

Getting back to the dorm was a haze. He didn't remember how he'd gotten there but the unsettling feeling pooling in his gut had yet to die. Not even Andromeda could help him feel better beneath the tidal wash of nausea. Immediately he sat at the edge of his bed, head in his hands trying to think of what to do. How was he supposed to handle being watched by his friends at the bar? He had a fucking date with Jean and he was going to get mocked by his own friends. The day had blessed him then ripped it away by cursing him. 

Reiner got up from the bed and placed a hand on his shoulder "Uh, Marco, you alright?"

"No," he muttered softly.

"What's up?" He asked carefully.

"I, uh," he inhaled deeply and looked up to Reiner's powder blue eyes "I have a date tonight....with Jean.....at The Three Broomsticks."

Bertholdt sprang from the bed and joined Reiner "That's awesome Marco!! But, uh, why do you look like you're going to be sick?"

"Cause I think I might be," he responded. "What do I wear guys? What do I say? What do I  _ do?!  _ I can't handle this around you guys!"

At his growing nervous disposition Reiner patted him on the back "Chill out, man. It's alright we'll leave you to your date but what are you freaking out for? You've been on dates before, Marco, this one is no different."

"Except it  _ is!"  _ Marco practically screeched, his voice cracking as it rose. Getting to his feet he began to tear through his trunk searching for something to wear, sending clothing flying to scatter around the bed in various directions. "I've never been out with someone I like, like this. Never. I'm fucking terrified, guys. What if I fuck it up? What if I say the wrong thing?!" Through his hilarious, flustered fit Bertholdt and Reiner spent their time trying to calm him down. Between asking opinions on his outfit for the third time to spending twenty minutes in front of the mirror, Marco was a  _ complete  _ wreck.  
  
  


* * *

 

 

Jean was waiting off to the side of Hogsmeade just off the carriage. He was a bit uneasy at the thought of waiting for Marco for their date. Marco had been so damn adorable then with his cracking voice and furious blush. Admitting his feelings, no falsities, no nothing but Marco beneath it all. That was something he didn't see everyday and so he had to agree even if he’d been a little on edge himself. Now, however, he was a little nervous himself but just for waiting. He didn't know if Marco would even come or if this was a big joke. What if this was to tease him?

The thought was hard to ignore as he didn't put it past Marco but for once he would let his overactive mind calm. Marco would have a fair chance to explain everything. Just as he thought of him he watched him jump off the carriage and wave a hand in the air. A smile curled his lips as it had at the stables. It took him that moment to put it together. They hadn't been in the same period for Care of Magical Creatures which meant he hadn't known until then that Marco could see the thestrals pulling the carriages. He felt a bolt of sympathy streak through him.....he wondered how long he'd been able to see them. To understand mortality so young....it pained him a bit.

As he stepped closer to Jean he watched the smile on Marco's face fall. He'd tried to straighten up a bit and take surer strides. Dressed in an emerald button up and black slacks he was baring a bit of his chest but he did look amazing. The soft deep umber waves of his hair tumbled carefully around as he stepped and those russet eyes met his own for a mere second before they averted. It didn’t take a genius to see how terrified he was. He supposed he understood it a bit though Marco was showing a piece of him that he knew only a handful of people had seen before. He'd have been lying though if he said it hadn't given him an ego inflation. 

Marco gave him a light nod as they walked off side by side to the bar. Having to retain a snicker at how fidgety he was being was quite difficult but he managed. Once inside the bar they settled in a booth near the back corner as to stay away from prying eyes. As they slid into separate sides of the booth Jean smiled and waved the server over. She was a younger woman perhaps just out of school, golden hair in low pigtails with bright blue eyes focused on Marco.

She gave a light laugh "Haha, Marco, welcome back. You want your usual?"

"Please," he nodded "and don't stop them. I have a feeling I'm going to need something to keep myself from saying something stupid."

Jean grinned "I think he'll be fine. I'll have a butterbeer please."

"Remember, Marco," she waggled a finger in warning "what happened last time. Be careful, okay? I don't want to have you in my bed again."

Eyes widening Marco's nose wrinkled and he thrust a hand to his head as she skittered off  "It's  **not** what you think."

Assuming it hadn't been Jean had to ask anyway "And what was it exactly?"

"I got really drunk and she had to let me lay down upstairs until Reiner and Bert could come carry my fat ass out,” Marco admitted through gritted teeth.

"Hahaha! When was that?" Jean asked unable to contain his laughter at the mental image.

Marco sighed, rubbing the back of his neck "Uh....about 3 weeks ago." Jean grimaced, knowing it had been the week he'd gotten his howler. Everything then had been his fault and he felt another twinge of guilt streak through him at that. He'd gotten so drunk just to forget what was happening to him. Before he could say anything Marco smiled dejectedly "It wasn't your fault so please don't look at me like _ that." _

"Like what?" Jean posed softly.

"Full of pity," Marco replied flatly.

Jean sighed "I don't pity you but I did assume it was my fault. After all it was. Eren did it for me after herbology and I take responsibility. Was it so obvious on my face?"

"Your brows knit just a little, your lip falls at the left corner, and your eyes soften but I can tell. I'm used to having to read people quickly since they never know what to make of me," Marco chuckled with a shrug.

"Does that mean I can tell you I can see you practically jittering?" With a grin Jean arched a brow and leaned back against the dark walnut booth.

Marco sighed "I suppose but I can't help it."

Craning his head curiously Jean posed the question "Why?"

"Never been out with someone I actually liked enough to disobey and disrespect both my father and my house," Marco retorted with a nervous chortle.

"A little rivalry is nice," Jean began as he leaned over the table "but you need to  _ stop _ seeing me as my house Marco. We're  **not** at school."

"I agree," Marco stated as their drinks arrived "so don't see me as the asshole who might do something to you or tease you here. I'm just being me...which is admittedly  _ terrifying  _ and harder than originally anticipated." 

With a drink of his beer Jean snickered "Haha, I don't think a guy quaking in his booties is much a threat to me right now. If any of us should be a wreck it's me. I've only been out on a few dates ever and I was  _ horrible. _ I still don't really know how to act so you've got more experience here than I do."

Marco scoffed "Not really. I've never been out with someone I liked in the way I like you. We're both just a mess it seems."

"Yeah, pretty much..." he paused before sitting down his mug "can I ask about why your dad holds such a grudge? What was with that howler?"

Downing his red currant rum in one go Marco slammed the glass to the table "Hmm. My dad holds a particular distaste for Gryffindors. In school everyone looked down their noses at him, back when the house rivalry was hella strong, and he just can't get over it. My uncle....he, uh, he was a dark wizard. Everyone kinda looks down on us expecting us to take a similar fate. My father always taught me to have pride in who we are, in what we are, and assert myself to ensure I couldn't be looked down at. I look like my mom, I know I look sweet, and because of it my father was a lot harder on me. He told me when I was little that I needed to be strong because looking weak would lead me to be weak. Ymir looks like dad and she acts most like him too so she didn't get the threat quite as much.”

"Wow," Jean replied softly, almost in whisper. He couldn't believe that Marco had been told that as a child but, in a way, he could. With someone in the family who'd turned to criminal acts with magic it was no wonder Marco built his shell to protect himself from those who would look down on him. To prevent anyone from thinking he would be weak and turn himself. It wasn't his fault. "That's awful, Marco, to be conditioned, as a child, to be something you're not and end up being a dick as a teen."

Marco furrowed his brows "Watch it.....actually, yeah I guess. I'd rather be like my mom, all soft and nice inside and out and I suppose I am to a select few. I am, however, Slytherin through and through. People often wonder how I landed here. My ambition to prove myself worthy of inheriting the name my father has worked so hard to clear, and the fact that if I don't know someone and it's me or them it will always be me, led me to my house. The flip, however, is if it were me or Ymir, or Hitch, or Bert.....I'd always pick them."

Taking the moment to process his words Jean gave him a reassuring smile "That's actually pretty admirable. I'm actually almost similar there. You know we're two sides of the same coin? Our houses. People might see what your father calls weakness as strength if you showed them."

"No," Marco stated flatly. "No one who can't handle my exterior can handle what's beneath it all. I truly hold the sharper points of my father's personality. I'm petty and vindictive but I'm many other things. Only part of this facade is fake and you were one of the few to even get that far. It's part of the reason I envied you, you know. You get to be yourself, a loud-mouth, rude at times, blunt, do-gooder, yet you remain so well liked. You're unapologetically yourself with those mesmerizing eyes and that amazing frame. You could see the cracks and push back, it made me like you. That insight, your humor, your wit, and, let’s not lie, you’re incredibly easy on the eyes and a great quidditch player.”

"How unfortunate," Jean joked trying to hide his blush at Marco's comments. "Are you already drunk? Did you drink more truth serum? Are you ill perhaps?"

Marco rolled his eyes playfully "No, I'm just being honest. Figure you know it all anyway after that whole fiasco. What about your family?"

"Single mom," Jean offered "and I love her to death. She dotes on me a lot and can be overbearing, pretty sure she's the reason I was fat, but I wouldn't trade her for anyone in the world. Apparently, I look like my dad but I wouldn't really know. I never met him."

"Oh," Marco seemed a bit taken off guard as he replied. "I'm sorry. What happened?"

Jean took a hearty gulp of his beer and began "He left her after finding out about her magic. She hadn't told him until she got pregnant with me because I might start to manifest abilities after I was born. He got freaked the fuck out and ran. Who needs the asshole though? I have the best mom, she played both roles, so screw it."

"No wonder that momma's boy comment ate you alive last year," Marco tossed out.

"There's nothing wrong with loving your mother," he offered as well as giving a jab at Marco "nor is there with being a  _ "mudblood." _ We can't all be purebloods."

At the jab Marco placed a hand at his chest "I'm hurt. I have no prejudice towards anyone of the nature. I may retain some traditionalism but I’m not quite barbaric."

"Your father?" Jean asked, knowing the answer already. 

"Barbaric," Marco answered lowly "but enough of him. What exactly do you do for fun, Jean? I don't think I've ever seen you doing much but studying."

Grinning at the fact Marco watched him time from time he took a sip of his drink and answered "I'm not always studying when I'm outside even if I have a book. I sketch a lot, I write songs, I enjoy playing the guitar, listening to music, playing video games, or even watching movies with my friends. Class wise I find Potions to be pretty fun and Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Marco smiled "I wouldn't have taken you for a potions lover or an artist. The musician makes sense though. Maybe you can show me those sketches sometime?"

"If you're nice," Jean smirked "as for potions, come on, it's fun to blow shit up. What about you, waterhead? Swimming and whatever it was earlier?"

"Haha, I do enjoy swimming but I also run.....I guess you can't see them, huh? Probably for the best. I enjoy visiting the stables to care for the thestrals. I'm one of few who can see them and aren't scared of them. I'm rather close with them actually. Professor Rall appreciates the help with the herd. If I'm being lazy I'll watch a movie, game with the guys, or listen to music with Andy."

Jean paused, a bit confused "Andy?"

"My cat," Marco replied swiftly "her name is Andromeda but I call her Andy."

"Ah, forgot you had a cat," Jean chuckled "I never really pictured you as a cat dude but I probably should have."

Marco shot him a toothy smile "Really? I'm surprised you didn't remember that tussle she had with your owl in year 4."

Jean groaned "Ugh...yeah that's right she tortured Millicent."

"Sorry," he shrugged "Andromeda is a trouble maker. She just likes teasing and even screws with Ymir's great horned owl, Bartok."

"Like cat like owner," Jean jested.

He grinned "She's not all domestic. She's 3/5ths kneazle so she's known to be a bit temperamental at times and even nibbles."

"Oh great," Jean droned "she fucking bites. That's safe. Not surprising though. So you care for magical creatures, run, swim, listen to music, and your favorite class is what exactly?"

Taking a moment to slam back his third drink of the evening Marco responded "Probably Care of Magical Creatures or Herbology actually."

"Now  _ that's _ shocking," Jean replied blinking owlishly.

Without missing a beat Marco shook his head "Why?"

"You can see thestrals, which I'm sorry for, but you willingly care for them in your spare time, your favorite classes are Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, and it just doesn't seem right. I mean, no concocting deadly potions and no putting kids on their asses? For a guy who messed with me for years, mercilessly I might add, it's just so," Jean had to pause to think of the word "....sweet."

"I'm not sorry for being sweet," Marco grinned as he removed his wand and placed it on the table "they're misunderstood creatures and I guess I get them. They just want people to love them even if they're seen as evil or omens. Personally I find their company soothing. As for my classes, you've been at the wrong end of this wand enough but now you can see it up close."

Examining it Jean smiled "English oak, of course, a lover of the natural word and it's creatures. Still it's interesting to me. You're just a big softy under all those scales."

Marco returned his wand to his pocket "Haha, a bit, but that's a secret. Might damage my rep if people knew."

"Okay so your forked tongue needs to retain it's edge?" Jean asked.

Growing a bit bold Marco leaned over the table "Don't seem to recall you minding its edge when it was slipping past your lips."

Feeling a flush tinting his features Jean huffed "That is neither here nor there."

"But it is," Marco retorted smugly "I mean some part of you liked it or else you wouldn't have agreed to be on this date with me." Refusing to answer the obviously rhetorical question through his intense blush he turned his mug up and tried his best to ignore it. Marco however chuckled "That's not a no."

Sitting down his mug Jean narrowed his eyes "No, it's a ‘ _ shut the hell up you cocky bastard’  _ ."

"Fine, fine," he paused only to order another drink. Jean took a moment to take in the events of the night. He was having so much fun just drinking with Marco and learning so much more about him. It was true he was someone else, someone he hated to admit but he did actually like the sound of him. This new Marco was funny and sweet and still charming without all the bullish arrogance. He kind of wished other people could see him like this....until he liked the idea of being special, liked like idea of being a select few to see him like that. It wasn't hard to tell he was still masking some of his nerves though so he had an idea.

"Hey, Marco," he called, awaiting the moment he shifted his bronze gaze to him "why don't we get outta here?"

Marco arched an inquisitive brow "And go where exactly?"

"I got a bit of a sweet tooth," Jean offered with a smile as he rose from his seat.

"Honeyduke's then," Marco stated as he got to his feet. In the moment his feet hit the ground he shook his head a bit, curls swaying to the side, and his balance failed. Teetering to the side, Marco used the table to steady himself.

Jean placed a cautious hand to his back "Are you alright, Marco?"

He groaned "Ugh, I think I mighta drank those a bit too fast."

"Damn," Jean giggled "you're a  **hella** lightweight, huh? You only had what, 4 and half, in 2 hours? Are you drinking on an empty stomach?"

"No," he replied "but I  _ am _ a bit of lightweight. I can manage though, haha, I'm just pretty buzzed is all." While he paid for their drinks, which Jean thought was nice, he began to think that staggering and giggly Marco was incredibly adorable. His flushed face and little wobble was absolutely precious. Upon his return he stumbled straight into Jean's chest taking him off his own feet for a moment. Slipping an arm around his waist carefully Jean smiled and Marco draped an arm around his shoulders "Onwards to the sweets!" At that Jean tried to retain his laughter, he was so fucking cute.

For a minute he wondered if he should let him go in there like that, fumbling and half off his ass, but then a part of him said yes. It'd be hilarious. And it was. Marco had to use Jean for leverage as they clumsily moved through the various shelves of sweet treats. Marco was grabbing so many things he had no idea how his perfect white teeth had no cavities. Six chocolate frogs, a few pieces of fudge, and crystallized pineapple chunks had been grabbed before he decided he was done. Jean grabbed a box of licorice wands and a box of every flavor beans. Due to being on a date, Marco snatched them from him and offered to pay with a warm smile. 

After he allowed it and they walked out Jean knew he had to get Marco back to Hogwarts. Even if he wanted to stay and have some fun with drunken Marco he knew it would be wrong. Leading him to the carriage Marco mumbled "Take me home!" and the carriage began to roll. Marco slumped over against Jean's shoulder as he had issues opening a chocolate frog. Tugging at the cardboard didn't work out well for him so gnawing on it's corners seemed to make it easier. Jean couldn't help but get an boisterous laugh out of the spectacle. Slipping down the velvet seating, Marco stretched his legs to the other bench and laid against Jean's side.

When he finally managed to open the packaging the chocolate frog took one look at inebriated Marco and jumped straight to his face. Knowing the frog was on his face, and due to Marco's intoxicated state, he smacked himself. Jean put a hand over his mouth to keep his laughter in but was unable. It was all he could do to not fall out of the carriage at the sight, to which Marco puffed out his bottom lip and cursed with slur. All of it was getting better the longer he waited and watched, but the best was watching as Marco looked about brought to tears when the chocolate frog flung itself from the carriage.   
  
Placing a hand at the back of his neck, Jean steeled himself and tucked his head to his shoulder. Marco's arm found itself wrapped around Jean's midsection. He was mumbling something, something inaudible, and when Jean went to investigate he realized Marco was sleeping. Marco Bodt had passed out on him, snoring and speaking in his sleep. God, he hated how this date reminded him of Marco's sweet side. Tonight he'd seen Marco Bodt as many hadn't, caring and kind, sweet and a little sassy, funny and sincere. He wanted to hate him, but he couldn't, and he knew that was because he liked everything he'd seen, even the childlike drunken behavior. As it turned out, Marco would be the death of him, but as he raked his fingers through his hair he realized it probably wouldn't be in the way he first assumed.


End file.
